Lee Hester writes:

>The only things I even own multiples of are a few pieces by Bach (e.g.The
>Brandenburgs and some of the more major organ works), The Planets (Was
>Holst a one hit wonder?  Are there other 1HW's?) and the Russian Easter
>Overture (mayhap my favorite piece).

One-Hit Wonder implies a composer who wrote one good piece or a piece
that is SO much better than the rest of his output.  Holst and Rimsky
wrote many wonderful scores.  A list of some of my favorites, off the
top of my head:

Rimsky:
Russian Easter Overture
May Night
The Tsar's Bride
Capriccio Espagnol
Dubinushka
Piano Sextet
Mlada
Snow Maiden
Sadko (opera and tone poem)
Overture on Russian Themes
Fantasy on Russian Themes
Symphony No. 3
Scheherezade

Holst:
Planets
Suites (2) for Military Band
Folk Song arrangements for a cappella choir
Choral Symphony
Beni Mora
Fugal Overture
Fugal Concerto
Savitri
Scherzo
Capriccio
Double Concerto
Medieval Lyrics
2 Carols for Women's Choir and oboe
Terzetto
Choral Fantasia
Hymns from the Rig Veda
7 Bridges Part-Songs
2 Psalms
The Hymn of Jesus
Brook Green Suite
Egdon Heath
Japanese Suite
St. Paul's Suite
Brook Green Suite
12 Songs of Humbert Wolfe
Hammersmith: Prelude and Scherzo

We must remember that not all good pieces get recorded or recorded a
lot.  The Planets, after all, is a known quantity.  I'd bet that not too
many recordings of it have lost money.  This is a big factor for a label
deciding on repertoire.  For example, one label wanted Ted Joselson to
record the Prokofiev Third Piano Concerto, because it was (supposedly)
more popular, by which they probably meant that there were more recordings
of the third than the second.  In other words, they were trying to reduce
risk to a matter of tautology.  Joselson insisted on recording the second
instead and, at the time, had the clout.  The recording did fairly well,
though not a super-blockbuster.  It probably did as well as a recording
of the Third Concerto would have.  And this is Prokofiev.  Think of this
kind of reasoning applied to less well-known composers.

Steve Schwartz

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